brothers shift kit problem - broken bolt

[LanceB]

So my brother decided to put a shift kit in his 77. He was almost done when the last bolt he was tightening down in the valve body broke off. Very frustrated because the torque wrench was set a little lower than what it called for to be safe. He is torn on what he should do. There are 11 bolts that hold the valve body on.

After looking down in the hole with a flashlight my first thought is to leave it alone (gulp) because I think we could make a bad problem worse by trying to get it back out and I don't see how this particular bolt is going to affect anything since there are 10 others surrounding it holding this thing on just fine. I have had TERRIBLE luck trying to drill and easy-out broken bolts in the past. Man 3 hours and near perfect execution of the directions to put this thing in has gone to crap real quick. Any advice appreciated.

 

[minifridge1138]

That's a tough one.

On the one hand, GM designed it to have 11 bolts. Not 10. Not 12.
However, 10/11 bolts should keep it from falling out.

I'd be afraid of the mess I would make trying to get the broken bolt out.

Where did the bolt break?
If you removed the valve body, would there be enough stud to grip with a small pair of vice grips?

 

[JohnZ]

Since the bolt broke and isn't rusted in place, there's no stress on the threaded portion that's still there; it should be easy to remove.

 

[Rex S]

Bolt shouldn't be that hard to get out since the hole is deeper that the bolt's threads and it has always been in an oil bath. In this situation a small left hand drill bit should be enough to get it out. Use a small one with the drill in reverse and it may walk the bolt out w/o any extractor. SnapOn also has a great set of extractors that do not have any taper to them but use splines so the bolt's shank is not expanded.

 

[LanceB]

It is a tough one. I know the perfectly right answer is to fix it and do it right, how GM designed it. If I didn't have such bad luck in the past on a broken bolt I would dive in. The thing is on there good though. It seemed the bolts were very easy to undo when I took the valve body out so I don't know how tight is acceptable on it, but its tighter than before we took it out.

We went ahead and put the pan back on and put fluid in it and test drove it. I had trouble getting the right amount of fluid and at first it didn't want to go in reverse. I poured 4 qrts in there just like the directions said but it kept reading low after I warmed it up. My repair manual says empty trans needs 20 pints, so we kept adding until it was right. Reverse started working and we drove around the block. Driving it - all I can say is the shift points are at a higher RPM than my brother expected. He drove it and said it wouldn't shift until about 5000 rpms. I have not drove it but when he came back it read low on fluid again so I added more till it was right. Then my wife made everyone stop working

I really tried to talk my brother out of doing this whole thing at all, as I prescribe to the "ain't broke, don't fix it" theory. But he is stubborn and I am trying to help him if he is going to do it, you know? I am going to take it for a test drive later tonite and see how it goes. It is driveable now (at least it can get point A to B), so worst case if I don't like what its doing I may help him get it to a shop because this job seemed way beyond my experience level from the get-go. I havent taken the valve body off to check to see if there is enough thread to grab but that is a very good point.

 

[LanceB]

Report back from test drive

Alright I finally drove it myself. Something isn't right. It goes almost redline (5200 rpm) before shifting from 1st to 2nd in normal driving no matter what. At the stoplight, I put the auto shift knob to 1 and guess what? Its 3rd gear! It DID NOT like me trying to manual shift from 1 to 2 to 3. Other than breaking that confounded bolt on the valve body where did we go wrong on this shift kit installation? I thought we followed the directions exactly.

 

[LanceB]

Well I called B&M and they said the shift kit doesn't affect the point at when it shifts. So I must have something messed up in re-installation of the valve body or linkage? But after doing a lot of research online and the only things I can find to check are the vacuum modulator and the governor. It is rather difficult to find anything to help troubleshoot.

If I can get it shifting correctly then I will just drive it to a good shop to help me with the broken bolt because I just can't live with it being broken, but I don't trust myself to drill that sucker out. Just wish I had it at least running right....

 

[procketus]

Does he still have the 350 in it?

Have you checked the kickdown cable?

 

[LanceB]

I called a local guy here and he listed so many reasons for the problem that I think it makes sense to take it all apart and start over. Time is always the problem these days for that though. Regardless i got it back on jacks and I am just going to work my way backwards when I can.

We were idiots and didn't put the $7 drain plug in it, so we get to make a big ol mess again. So I just want to take it apart and remove the valve body and put it back together carefully and double check its all right. I want to see if this bolt has any neck left to grab (and if I can get back to square one ont that part then that would make my day), make sure we put the gaskets on right, and replace all of the bolts since these are 30+ years old (should have done that the first time around too :eyerole). Who knows we may find some parts sitting in the pan...hope not.

 

[TimAT]

Unless the bolt has some bad threads, you should just about be able to walk it out with an good sharp icepick.

Go back thru your shift kit install very carefully. Just about all of the valves will go in either way and look correct. Even the modulator valve will go in backward. Make sure you de-burred the holes in the spacer plate and the check balls are in the correct spots in both the case and the valve body.

 

[LanceB]

No bad threads on the bolt....I am curious about your icepick procedure....

 

[TimAT]

I've removed broken bolts with an icepick. Sharp end digs into the bolt and you just turn it to back it out. Unless it's stuck for some reason. Even then, if you gently tap the icepick (hold it at an angle in the correct direction) it may turn it out so you can get a grip on it.